Honda wants to end dealing with Falconi

Pauline Bell

Thursday, July 25, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

American Honda Motor Co. is trying to terminate its relationship with a Southern Nevada Honda dealer because of his alleged role in the company's ongoing bribery scandal.

On July 2 and 3, American Honda Motor Co. moved to terminate the Honda dealerships of Angelo Falconi, owner of Falconi's Tropicana Honda at 4645 W. Tropicana Ave., and Roseville, Calif., dealer Henry Khachaturian, also known as Hank Torian, said Kurt Antonius, senior manager of corporate public relations for the car manufacturer.

Antonius said Honda believes the Khachaturian and Falconi franchises were fraudulently obtained through payments to former American Honda employees, which is forbidden by Honda's dealer franchise agreement.

"Dealer termination letters have been sent to Hank Torian, dealer-principal of AutoWest Honda, and Angelo Falconi, dealer-principal of Tropicana Honda," Antonius said in a prepared statement.

"It is the position of the dealership that there is no justification for American Honda's action," said Falconi's attorney, Edward C. Morascyzk of Washington, Pa.

"The notice has been turned over to our legal department for review and response. It is our intention to oppose American Honda's action," Morascyzk said in a prepared statement.

He said it appears that the action of American Honda may be related to the ongoing litigation involving American Honda and its dealers.

He is referring to the conviction of 18 former American Honda managers and four Honda dealers of participating in a nationwide scheme to defraud the car manufacturer of more than $15 million from 1979 to 1992.

Two former American Honda managers, S. James Cardiges, senior vice president of sales, and Robert Rivers, Western Region manager, were among those indicted. They pleaded guilty to federal criminal counts of racketeering and mail fraud and later testified against the others.

Cardiges, who admitted taking millions in bribes and kickbacks, reportedly claimed that Falconi paid him between $50,000 and $75,000 a year from 1982 to 1992 while Cardiges worked for Honda, according to a story in the July 15 edition of Automotive News.

Cardiges specifically pleaded guilty to receiving $2 million to $5 million in cash, clothing, cars and other gifts from dealers across the country seeking scarce but hot-selling cars.

The car manufacturer faces more than 30 civil suits from dealers and former dealers who claim that they were hurt by the corrupt practices and that the company failed to stop those practices.

As recently as Monday, nearly 50 Honda dealers across the country filed suit in federal court in Baltimore saying Honda allegedly ignored the corrupt practices, which gave some dealers a definite competitive advantage over others.

Falconi's competition in the Southern Nevada market is Las Vegas Honda on East Sahara Avenue. A spokesman there had no comment on the report.

Falconi lives somewhere in the East, but a colleague of Morascyzk, Phil Ehrman, wouldn't say where.

Both AutoWest Honda and Tropicana Honda will remain fully operational until there is a legal hearing regarding the terminations, Antonius said.

In 1994, Honda filed similar pleadings to terminate Costa Mesa (Calif.) Honda and Town and Country Honda in Woodstock, Ga. Those terminations were upheld by the California New Motor Vehicle Board and a federal court of appeals in Georgia, respectively, Antonius added.

Antonius said the termination would not affect Falconi's Acura dealership on West Sahara Avenue.